Type-writing machine



No. 627,!4I. Patented )une 20, |899.

J. B. PRICE.

TYPE WRITlNG MACHINE.

(Application led Oct. 24, 1898.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

we' Nonms mins co.. vnmuumo.. wnsuma'ron4 u. c.

Naf 627,|4|. Y

J. B. Palmi.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

Patented june 20, i899.

(Application led Oct. 24, 189B.)

2 Sheets-Shee 2.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOI-IN B. PRICE, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE MANHATTANTYPEWRITER COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION-frmng part of Letters Patent No. 627,141, dated June 20,1899.

Application filed Octnlxer 24, 1898.l Serial No. 694,476. (No model.) l

.To tZZ whom, t may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN B. PRICE, of Newark, county of Essex, and Stateof New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Type- Writing Machines,of which the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

My invention is embodied in a type-writer,

1o and relates totheletter-spac'e-feed mechanism.

The invention consists in a novel construction of the escapement bywhich the springimpelled carriage is permitted to advance as each letteris printed and in the spaces between the words; and it further consistsin details of construction that will be hereinafter described.

Figure l is a rear elevation of a sufficient portion of a type-writingmachine to illuszo trate this invention; Fig. 2, a transverse sectionthereof, showing the feed mechanism in side elevation; Figs. 3, Il, and5, sectional elevations as seen from the rear of the machine, showingthe escapement mechanism r in different positions; and Fig. 6,asectional detail on line x6, Fig. l.

The escapement Vmechanism forming the subject of this inventionis-applicableto machines of the well-known Remington type,

,3Q being embodied in apmachine in which the platen-carriage A or partthat supports and feeds the paper is provided with a feed-rack a, havinginclined or ratchet-shaped teeth Z9, spaced to correspond to the spacingdesired between consecutive letters of continuous printing. The saidcarriage is normally impelled in the direction from left to right, asseen in Fig. 1by the mainspring and connections, which maybe of usualconstruction, 4o as indicated at B, Fig. 1,'and said carriage ispermitted to advance a distance represented by one tooth of thefeed-rack a at each operation of the universal bar c, produced bydepression vof any of the letter-key levers d or of the space-key in theusual manner.

Instead of controlling the movement of the rack o. by a pair offeed-dogs movable in a plane transverse to said feed-rack, as is morecommonly done in machines of this class, said 5o feed-rack is, inaccordance with the present invention, controlled by a pair of feed-dogsef, having a movement in the same plane as the feed-rack, the said dog fbeing moved only in the direction to engage and disengage with the teethof the feed-rack, while the dog e has a movement into and out ofengagement with said lteeth and also a movement in the direction of thelength of the rack.

The dog j', which for distinction will be called the retaining-dog7 iscarried by one 6o arm of a rocking lever g, pivoted at g2 upon astationary part of the frame,shown as abracket Gr, below the rack a,said lever g being operated from the universal bar c by connections thatwill be hereinafter described, and being turned upon its pivotal axis,which is at right angles to the length of the rack, in the direction toraise the dog f into engagementl with the teeth of the rack a when theuniversal bar is depressed by the type-keys or 7o space-key of themachine, and being moved in the opposite direction, or down and out fromengagement with the said teeth, when the universal bar is permitted torise to its normal position assumed when none of the keys of the machineare depressed. The

, other dog @,which for distinction will be called the let-off dog, iscontrolled at the lower end of its shank or carrier by a guide whichpermits ofrmovem ent of said dog up and down 8o or toward and from theteeth of the rack a, and also permits of a pivotal movement ot' said dogabout an axis near its lower end, so that its upper end may move in thedirection of the length of the rack a. As shown in this instance, thelower 'portion of said dog e is provided with a longitudinal slot c2,(best shown in Figs. 3, EL, and 5,) engaging with a pin or projection e3on the stationary framework or bracket G,which pin serves, in con- 9onection with said slot,'to guide the dog in its longitudinal orupward-and-downwardl movement, and also constitutes a pivot or fulcrumfor its pivotal movement. Said dog e is also controlled near its upperend by the lever g, one arm of which carries the retaining-dog f, theother arm of said lever being, as shown in this instance, provided witha tranverse pin or projection e4, passing through a slot e5 in the shankor carrier of the dog c, said pin Ico c4 by its engagement thus causingan 'up-anddown movement of the said dog, the reverse of that of the dogf, when the lever g is vibrated, and also permitting of the pivotalmovement of said dog e about the guide proj ection e3 as a center. Thesaid pivotal movement of the dog e in the direction of the feed of thecarriage A is limited by an adjustable front stop h, shown as aset-screw in the stationary bracket G, and said dog is normallyyieldingly pressed in the direction opposite to that of the feedmovement of the rack by a spring 1I, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) its movement 1under the action of said spring '7l being limited by a rear stop 7e,which is adjustable and also is yielding for a purpose that will behereinafter explained.

In order to provide for slight variations in the amount of movement ofthe dog-operating lever g without correspondingly varying the engagementof the retaining-dogfwith the teeth of thel rack, the said retaining-dogis yieldingly connected with the lever g, being carried by an arm f2,which, as herein shown, is supported upon the same pivot or fulcrupm g2as the lever g, being capable of independent pivotal movement thereon.The movement of said dogf with relation to the lever gin the directionfor entering the rack-teeth is limited by a stop projection f3, (shownin Figs. 3 and 4,) which engages With-a corresponding projection oroverhanging portion of the lever g, said dogf being normally retainedwith the stop f3 in engagement by a spring f4, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) sothat when the lever gis rocked from the position shown in Fig. 3 to thatshown in Fig. 4 the dog f .accompanies the same as long as its movementis not otherwise interfered with. The movement of the dog toward therack, however, is limited by a stop projection f5, which engages withthe stationary framework of the l machine, being shown in this instanceas striking upon the overhanging portion of the machine-frame orbed-plate C. The movement of the dog f into engagement with the teeth ofthe rack a is thus arrested when proper engagement is effected, and ifthe lever g requires a further movement by reason of variations in themovement of the operating-keys or in the connections from said keys tosaid lever such movement will be accommodated by the yielding connectionbetween the dog and lever without producing a further upward movementofthe dog ora deeper engagement thereof with the rack-teeth, the spring f4yielding to provide for such further movement of the lever g as may takeplace. The return movement of the lever g and dogs carried byit from theposition shown in Fig. 4 to the normal position shown in Fig. 3 islimited by a stop g3, (see Figs. l and 5.,) adjustably connected withsaid lever and engaging with the bracket G.

The mode of operation of the dogs controlling the feed of the carriageis as follows: Normally the lever g is in the position shown in Fig. 3,with the retaining-dogfout of engagement with the teeth of the rack a,and the let-oft' dog e, engaged with a tooth of said rack and heldagainst the front stop h by the impelling force applied by the mainimpellingspring to the carriage, which force overcomes s the spring t'.When a key is depressed, the lever gis rocked upon the pivot g2 toapproximately the position shown in Fig. 4, raising the retaining-dog finto engagement with the tooth of the rack which is then nearest to itand depressing the dog e out from engagement with the tooth beforeengaged by it, the parts thus coming to the position shown in Fig. 4,and the carriage being released by the dog e, but retained by the dogf,said dog e when disengaged fromA the rack being thrown by the spring t'against the rear stop 7c and past the end of the tooth previously heldby it. The carriage is thus positively held by the dog f at the timewhen the imprint is being made. When the key, by the depression of whichthe movements above described were produced, is released and returned toits normal position, the lever gis rocked back toits original or normalposition, and the dog e engages with the next tooth of the rack to theone previously engaged by it, permitting'the carriage to feed until thesaid dog brings up against the stop h with the carriage advanced onetooth of the rack fro-m the position occupied previous to the depressionof the key.

The dog-operating lever g is connected by a link m with a lever n,pivoted at n2, Fig. 2, on a stationary* part of the frame and providedwith a stop n3 to limit its upward movement, said lever being normallyretained in its uppermost position by a spring n4, and thus retainingthe dogs in the normal position. (Shown in Figs. l and 3.) The saidlever n is connected by a link o with a lever or arm of a frame pivotedat 192011 the main frame of the machine and carrying the universal E barc, which is acted upon by the spacing and printing keys of the machine.

It is found necessary in machines of this class to vary or adjust theeffect of each of ithe key-levers d upon the universal bar c, since whenthesaid keys are properly adjusted with reference to the type-barconnections l they are frequently found to be out of proper l adjustmentwith relation tothe universal bar. It has been necessary, therefore, asa general ithing to cut away portions of certain keys i that engage theuniversal bar when they are i found' to depress the bar too far 0r tointrol duce additional material between a given key and universal barwhen it is found that such key does not depress the bar far enough.

In order to provide for the proper adjustment of the keyswith relationto the univer- Sall bar, the latter is in accordance with this inventionprovided with a series of yielding fingers c2, shown as cut somewhatlike the teeth of a comb from a strip of sheet metal,

one corresponding to each key, and beneath the said fingers the bar isprovided with ad- IOO IIC

justing-screws c3, one corresponding to'each iinger of the series. Thusby turning up or down the corresponding adjusting-screw the effect ofany key upon the universal bar may be adjusted as desired, and thespring-finger which bears upon and is raised or lowered by the adjusting-screw affords a suitable surface for the key-lever to bear uponwithout danger of becoming worn or indented, as it would if bearingdirectly upon the end of the adj ust* ing-screw.A

The rack a may be lifted wholly out of engagement with the feed-dogs,when desired, in order to permit movement of the carriage in eitherdirection independent of the feed in the usual manner, and it is shownas provided with a yielding pressure t (see Figs. l and 2) to preventaccidental rising movement in the normal operation of the machine. Saidpresser is shown as a roller supported in a spring-arm 152, mounted in apin or stud t3, adjustably secured in a socket in the bracket G, saidstud t3 constituting a positive st-op to limit the upward movement ofthe rack.

A support w, Fig. 1, is provided for the rack to limit its downwardmovement, said support being shown as an antifriction-roller engagingthe rack-carrier near the feed-dogs, as shown, so as to accuratelydetermine the vertical position of the feed-rack in the operation of themachine, vas is requisite in the construction in which the feed-dogscoper- I ate with the rack by movement into and out from engagement withthe teeth in the direction toward and from the under edge of the rack.

When the carriage is forcibly moved backward in the direction oppositeto the feed, the let-off dog e yields, as shown in Fig. 5, its rear stop7c yielding to permit such movement, so that the teeth of the rack d mayratchet back over the dog e without necessarily vibrating thedog-carrying lever g. A y

The herein-described escapement is very rapid in operation and may beadjusted to let off the carriage according to the requirements of theoperator, allowing some movement to lake place, if desired, upon thedepression o t' the key and the remainder as the key rises, or,' ifpreferred, causing substantially the whole movement of the carrier totake place in the rising of the key after the imprint has been made.This partial feed motion depends upon the relation of the dog to theteeth-as, for instance, the retaining-dog f may engage its toothsubstantially as the letolt dog e leaves its tooth, or there may be lostmotion, so that the carriage will travel slightly after the let-off dogreleases it before it brings up on the retaining-dog.

. I claiml. The combination of the spring-impelle'd carriage providedwith a feed-rack,with a dogoperatin g lever provided with aretaining-dog, and a let-olif dog made as a separate structure from theretainin`g-dog and having a guide upon the fixed frame upon which thesaid dog is longitudinally and pivotally movable, and an engagingconnection between said let-off dog and the dog-operatin g lever,substantially as described.

2. The combination of the feed-rack, with a dog-operating lever andretaining-dog carried by one arm thereof, a let-off dog made as aseparate structure from the retaining-dog and having a guide upon thefixed frame upon which it is longitudinally and pivotally movable, andan engaging connection between said let-off dog and the other arm of thedogoperating lever, and stops limiting the pivotal movement of saidlet-off dog, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the feed-rack, witha dog-operating lever providedwith a retainingdog, a let-off dog having a guide upon the fixed frameupon which it is longitudinally and pivotally movable, and an engagingconnection between said let-0E dog and the dogoperating lever, and arigid front stop, and yielding rear stop governing the pivotal movementof said let-oft' dog, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination of the feed-rack, with a dog-operating lever pivotedon an axis substantially at right angles with the length of saidfeed-rack, and a retaining-dog carried by one arm of said lever, andalet-offdog having a guide connection at one end upon the iixed frame,and a slotted guide connection with said dog-operatinglever upon whichsaid let-oft dog is movable lengthwise of the rack, front and rear stopsfor said let-off dog for limiting said movement, and a spring pressingsaid leteoft dog toward the rear stop, substantially1 as described.

5. The combination of the feed-rack, with a dog-operating lever and dogsoperated thereby, a second lever connected by a link with saiddog-operating lever and provided with a stop limiting its movement, anda spring normally holding said lever against said stop, and a universalbar connected with said lever, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the feed-rack, with a dog-operating lever and itsretaining-dog yieldingly carried by one arm of said lever and movableonly into and out of engagement with said rack, a stop to limit themovement of said retaining-dog independently of the movement of thelever, a let-o dog operated by the other arm of said lever and having amovement into and out of engagement with the rack-teeth and also amovement lengthwise of the rack, and means for vibrating said lever toalternately engage said dogs with the rack, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the keys of the typewriter with the universal bar,and a strip provided with a series of yielding engaging iingers securedto said universal bar, one finger corresponding to each key, and meansfor independently adjusting said ngers, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

IOO

ed to have longitudinal and vertical movefor the said feed-rackadjacentv to said pawls, ments, and the feed-dogs cooperatingtheresubstantially as described. with, with a yielding presser opposingthe In testimony whereof I have signed my upward vertical movement ofsaid rack, subname to this specification in the presence of 5 stantiallyas and for the purpose described. two subscribing Witnesses.

9. The combination With the feed-rack adapted to have longitudinal andvertical i JOHN B' PRICE' movements with the feed-dogs cooperatingWitnesses: therewith, and movable toward and from the SAMUEL HIRSCH,

:o teeth of the rack from below With a support SAMUEL EPSTEIN.

